Faunal

Faunal Section

The Faunal Section is responsible for the identification, analysis, and interpretation of prehistoric and historic faunal assemblages from archaeological sites across Illinois. Faunal material (consisting of bone, teeth, antler, fish scale, mollusk shell, and eggshell) provides important information on past diet, animal exploitation strategies, habitat use and resource availability, seasonality, and butchering practices. In addition to the preparation of reports based on analyses of faunal material collected in the course of IDOT projects, past and present, the lab undertakes the maintenance and development of the ISAS faunal comparative collection at the Killarney Research Annex.